I've had the machine for 2 weeks now (ordered directly from Lenovo, not Amazon).
I'm very impressed. The keyboard is outstanding... one of the best I have ever used, on any machine. For a work machine, this should be the biggest selling point. I tried many keyboard in the ultrabook category and couldn't find anything that was close.
The 14 inch screen is very nice. It has great colors, and is quite bright. The "white" on this screen is certainly whiter than on my older laptop. Viewing angles seem quite fine to me. If you take measurements there are certainly laptops that allow larger angles but I don't spend a lot of time trying to look at my laptop screen with it mostly folded shut---the viewing angles on this are much better than on typical Thinkpad screens and are fine for normal use. The 1600x900 resolution of the LCD makes it great for doing things side by side (browser/document browser/email document/email, source code/program output, etc.)
The machine is very compact and light. The 14 inch screen really does stand out as being large relative to the size of the body.
I am a trackpoint user but the trackpad on this does seem very nice. It's the "clickpad" type trackpad where the whole trackpad is a button. The actual surface of the trackpad is very large and has a nice smooth feel.
I see the biggest negative of this machine the lack of upgradability. For example, the RAM is soldered to the motherboard so can't be upgraded later. This is the price you pay for the extreme portability. Similarly, the battery cannot be removed without disassembling the laptop; thus, you can't travel with an extra battery to boost your usage time. (Presumably, something like the Veho Pebble will be an option when they release an adapter tip for it which is compatible with the X1C.)
Speaking of battery life, I get a little over 4.5 hours of work time (wifi connection, typing, emailing, light processor usage, brightness at 40%, which on this machine is plenty for indoors---movie watching would probably drain it a bit faster). This is running Ubuntu Linux 12.04. Windows might last slightly longer.
Speaking of Linux, this runs it without any problems. I have checked all the hardware functionality except for the fingerprint reader.
If you are looking for a very portable machine to *do work on*, then this is a terrific machine.
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I buy a new ThinkPad every year and so far the best one in memory is still the venerable T61p model and recently the x220. I was deciding on between x230 and x1 carbon and chose the latter. So how does the x1 carbon hold up after more than 3 months of usage?
PROS
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1) Thin and light. Even coming from an already small x220 I am still amazed at how light and thin x1 carbon is. Carrying it on your shoulder bag feels like you are not carrying anything at all compared to the x220. It is really that light.
2) Rapid-charging. 30-40 minutes charging brings the computer from low power to full power. If you travel a lot, this will save your bacon more than once.
3) Keyboard is generally good. The new chicklet lenovo keyboard is softer and more silent than the old Thinkpad keyboards I have grown to love but it has its moments in the sun and certainly an item you get used to with time. At first, I thought the keyboard was a downgrade from the previous gen but after a few months, I do appreciate the fact it's softer to type and spacing between the keys is quite good with very few false key registers.
CONS
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1) Pig of a AC adapter. It came with a bulky 90W adapter with the new square charging pin which I like but it is absolutely gigantic compared to the 60W one I use to carry for my x220. At the time of purchase, it was the only AC adapter of choice. Due to the super rapid-charging ability, Lenovo had to use 90W adapter but this one just feels cheap. In fact, I believe the new x1 carbon touch come with the same 90W output adapter but in a much slimmer design. Lenovo should never have used this bulky adapter in the first place.
2) Touchpad is mediocre at best. Left click is many times registered as right click. Multi-touch gestures is flaky and I had to dial down all sensitivity settings to almost the bare minimum to get the touchpad working to avoid false having my palm registered as mouse movement or clicks. If you feel comfortable with the dimple Thinkpad touchpads, you will really dislike this one despite the larger surface area.
3) Screen is just average. Many people have commented on how bad the screen is but I don't think it's that bad. It is much better than almost all glossy consumer laptop HD screens just because it is matte and doesn't reflect the room light back into your eyes. However, compared to the IPS 12.5 x220 matte screen, this one is garbage but then again that one is excellent and you are comparing something that's bad to one of the best. So average screen with good resolution is my final verdict.
4) The keyboard I mentioned is generally a good one to type on with one caveat. The paint finish/texture of the chicklet keys appears a little cheap, too smooth, and doesn't have enough friction on it. What I mean is that if you have wet palms or generally oily finger tips, your fingers will more likely to "slide" on the keys and and not stick to them when typing. I did't get this sliding feeling typing on older Thinkpad keyboards.
Overall
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The package itself is amazing but the sum of the parts is only slightly above average. If you want a Thinkpad build quality and lightness, you have no other choice. If you need absolute power like 16GB of ram, dual SSD drives, and more potent CPUs, then I would suggest you to stick with a x230 until the next x1 carbon revision. The only thing you gain from jumping from the x220/x230 series is weight and thinness and that's it.
UPDATED 2/10/2013:
The 128GB ssd is showing signs of quality control issues. Windows 7 randomly starts up in repair mode to fix partition, files are starting to go missing randomly, and windows itself is reporting some folder as inaccessible and prompts user to restart to start the repair process. The frequency of the problem is increasing leading me to believe the ssd drive included is crap. Buyers beware.
Best Deals for Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (34442HU) 14" Ultrabook - Core i5-3317U
I received the Lenovo X1 Carbon for Christmas and I was instantly blown away by this laptop. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a 14-inch screen and weighs only three pounds. This laptop doesn't just look great, it feels great too. ThinkPads laptops are known for being very reliable and durable and the X1 Carbon is no exception. This is certainly the best ultrabook laptop in the market. It is so elegant, pretty, and sturdy. My laptop came with Intel Core i5, 4GB of ram and 256GB HD which is super-fast for day to day tasks. It boots extremely fast and the screen resolution is pretty good. I just wish it came with a 1920 x 1080 resolution instead of 1600x900. The screen is readable at any angle regardless of the light conditions.
The keyboard is the best thing about this laptop. It is a spill-proof keyboard which for me is great because I tend to spill liquids on my keyboard very often. The touchpad is also nice and smooth. I have found that this laptop generates quite a lot of heat when doing intensive multitasking. I use my X1 Carbon for video rendering with Adobe After Effects and it really heats up the laptop after an hour of use. The battery life with the X1 Carbon is the best I have seen. It can easily last for more than 6+ hours with the brightness turned down a little.
Overall this is a great laptop for someone who travels or just wants a very light and thin laptop. I have been using this laptop heavily for a week now and have not experienced any problems. I am very impressed and pleased with the excellent build quality. Lenovo has another winner in their hands with this laptop. The spill-proof keyboard is the best feature this laptop has in my opinion. The resolution is 1600x900 which is great but it's not 1080p.
Pros:
-Spill-proof keyboard
-Amazing touchpad surface
-Light and sleek
-Well built
-Good overall performance
Cons:
-1600x900 is okay but it's not 1080p
-Gets pretty hot
-No Ethernet port
Honest reviews on Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (34442HU) 14" Ultrabook - Core i5-3317U
@ 06/05/2013
I returned it. It has major flaws.
@ 05/05/2013. 7:00 am.
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I bought this device from Lenovo website for $1850. i7 3rd generation/8Gb RAM/180 SSD/Windows 7. It was delivered to me as expected with the expected delays. From China then to Japan then to USA. I couldnt wait to get the package on to my hands. Thats how good of a puller is this product. I loved it right out of the box, really good looking piece of technology.
Pros:
.Sturdy to hold, good grip in hands. Doesn't slip away.
.It can handle all your computing needs. I am a business man and it is quite a good performer for me.
Can take some real load. 2 Ghz and auto boost up to 3.2 Ghz. That is some serious speed I am talking about. But on high loads the machine heats up,
which is normal thing. More speed more heat, at least for the current technology level we are at.
.Backlit keyboard.
.Keyboard. One of the best keyboard i have ever used and that too on a ultra book makes it more special.
.Real crowd puller, people want to know about it more.
.Dolby speaker systems. These are good. I love it.
.Matte screen.
.Rapid charging.
Cons:
.Finger print magnet. Your finger prints can be easily found all over the machine. It will absorb oil from your fingers and make it looks like oily
patches here and there. This annoys me a lot and i bought a electronics cleaning pack!
.Battery just gives me 4 hours. I would have liked a 6 hours for the price paid.
.Keyboard Back lighting has leakage, you might see light coming right off to your eyes from under the keyboard. I think i am being a perfectionist here.
Cant i be for the price i paid?
.Lenovo bloatware. Adds no value in what so ever way they meant.
.I would have loved if the charging block was smaller. Compared to the ultrabook the charging block looks so weird. Man this is big unlike you think.
.I have all the reason to retain it as i have all the reason to return it. It might put you in a dilemma :)
.Touchpad can be annoying to some.
.Within 2 weeks of buying, Lenovo has reduced its price by $230. I still need to get in touch with them to get the money back! how bad is that?
.Backlit keyboard, which can be made to perfection. You can see the cheat white plastic from under the keyboard especially when the backlight is on.
Which is kind of a heart breaker for such a good design.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (34442HU) 14" Ultrabook - Core i5-3317U
I have had my X1 Carbon for about 4 days now. I am comparing it to the ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A, Samsung Series 9 (new series) and the Apple MacBook Air 11.6 (2012 version). I have used Thinkpad computers since before Lenovo took over the PC division at IBM. Thinkpads were always durable and had the best keyboards in the business. I am happy to say that the X1 Carbon has the best Ultrabook keyboard hands down. Possibly even one of the best laptop keyboards ever. Here is how I would rank the experiences: X1, Apple, Zenbook Prime and Samsung Series 9 (which is atrocious). Unfortunately there aren't many more nice things to say about the X1 Carbon. If you have always used Thinkpads you will be very happy, but if you have had the chance to use the Zenbook Prime, SS9 or either of the MacBook Airs you won't be overwhelmingly impressed.
The one thing you can count on Lenovo for is to design a product, call it ground breaking, and proceed to use outdated technology in the laptop. Oh, then they charge a 25% upcharge for being a Thinkpad. I can agree that the build quality is pretty good. It is not as solid as the Zenbook or MacBook Air and is a close tie with the Samsung Series 9. It is thin and light for a Thinkpad, but with a 14" display still takes up a tiny bit more space than the Zenbook or MacBook Air 13. Many reviews have praised the trackpad. I spent hours adjusting the settings and still can't get it to work as reliably as my Zenbook and not even close to the MacBook Air. Plus, my trackpad was broken when I received it. The right side is lifted up from the front edge substantially and is very loose, so much that it clacks and rattles. Using it is pretty much impossible, so I will be returning it for this reason. The trackpad might be a little more reliable than what I have experienced, but the texture requires a firm solid touch to do anything, even if you have the touch sensitivity turned all of the way up.
Here are the biggest Cons of this laptop:
1. DisplayHere is one of those key areas where Lenovo dropped the ball. It is a standard TN panel display with only 300 Nits of brightness. I would bet it is slightly lower than that. The viewing angles are Ok if you are used to Thinkpad displays, but for someone that has used the Zenbook Prime or Samsung Series 9 (one with IPS and the other PLS, one 350 Nits and the Samsung with 400 Nits). The X1 does not come close. It is matte which helps but you will need to use this display on full brightness most of the time and in turn your battery life will suffer. I have run the battery down several times and the best I can get is about 3 to 3:30 hours and that is not on High Performance setting. The power cable is the largest laptop brick I have seen in over 10 years. I guess Lenovo needed it to be big for the rapid charge technology, but it is unsightly and not very portible. There are more issues that I have with this laptop, but will reserve more comments until I have had more time to use it.
TO BE CNTD
After using this laptop for 10 days I ended up returning it. My trackpad was loose from the start and ended up just falling off. I noticed that the only thing holding the glass trackpad to the keyboard is some sticky adhesive and simply a flat metal contact for the controls which just pulled out of the slot. I have used Thinkpads for years and I can honestly say that this is one of the poorest quality Thinkpads I have owned. The display is not even in the top 5 compared to other ultrabooks. It has lines on the screen from the matting on the display, the volume from the speakers is sub-par and while the keyboard is very nice that is not enough to warrant the high price of this laptop. The battery life is terrible. I averaged about 2-3 hrs with 50% screen brightness and power save mode. This display needs to be used at full brightness unless you are in a dark room. There are missing features on the trackpad like two finger tap for menu (you have to physically click this trackpad), the AC brick is one of the largest on any laptop I have ever owned, certainly the largest of any ultrabook. That is probably due to the rapid charge technology, but it negates the portability aspect in an ultrabook (like you have with the AC adapter on a Zenbook or Mac Book Air). I would not recommend this to anyone unless they have to have a Thinkpad for work and don't want to carry around a 5lb. 410. I would still recoommend the X230 over this.
